Ah, nothing like allergy season. Yesterday I actually found myself staying home from work - a fairly rare thing. I'm used to walking around with the addled and somewhat non-functioning gray matter sloshing around inside my head. Intense, throbbing sinus headaches, however, can take me completely out of commission. I don't get them very often, and usually they are pretty mild, but yesterday it felt like Brain-a-zilla was beating on the inside of my head with a rubber mallet to the point i was feeling nauseous and i didn't want to move out of my chair. That's usually a good sign that i should stay home.

I don't know about you, but i'm one of those people who looks at sick days as opportunities to catch up on things. I had work to do on Chapter 1 scripts, friday's comic needed to be started, there were several color drawings that i wanted to start, i needed to finish the character sheets, I wanted to come up with some new shirt designs, I needed to write a rant - perhaps get a few done, etc. It was 9:00am, i had plenty of time to do all sorts of stuff during the day.

The big problem with being the type of person who only stays home from work when he really *IS* sick is that - I really AM sick when i stay home. ^_^ I never seem to grasp the logic that the incapacitation that prevents me from being effective at work during the day is also going to prevent me from doing much of anything else during the day. By the end of my 'sick day' i feel not only guilty because i stayed home from work, but also that i completely wasted a day that could have been put to better use. By the end of the day, i'm feeling somewhat better, but i'm grumpy, out of sorts, and irritated that i didn't get more done during the day.

this is why i hate sick days.

Some people will say, "hell, why don't you just kick back and relax?" The sucky thing about headaches, especially sinus ones, is that relaxing isn't really an option. Headaches come with built-in stress, no matter how much you try to relax. Playing games requires thought, and all that does is make your headache worse, so you can't play anything. Even sitting watching anime isn't really feasible. Reading subtitles when your vision is a little off is not exactly good for headaches.

The best thing you can do - and if you can do this, i envy you - is just shut your brain down and turn yourself off for the day. My brain is hyperactive, it's always going. Even when i'm chilling, i like to be reading or doing something interesting. Head colds are awful because your brain just bitches and moans all day because it's not happy.

I am *so* glad i feel good enough to go to work this morning. ^_^

As everyone can see, we've wrapped up the first 'chapter' of Megatokyo. For tomorrow, i'll post some of my thoughts on the first 128 episodes of MT, and what the future of the strip is. The things that largo and i are doing will, i hope, only improve the strip and make it stronger. It's been a rather remarkable run so far, and it really feels like we are just getting started. I rub my hands together often and chuckle evilly about things... i'm not sure that this is good behavior on my part, but i can't help it. ^^;;

I should also have a very nice sketch to post tomorrow. I did draw a little bit last night, and started this VERY sweet Neverwinter Nights inspired sketch. With some luck, i'll be able to post it Friday afternoon. I might be a little late with tomorrow's strip - I didn't start working on it last night, which is bad - so the strip may not go up till saturday. I will try, however, to get it done.

Oh, one final thing. A lot of people have been comparing Tsubasa's quest to find his childhood sweetheart as a blatant rip or spoof of Love Hina. This isn't really true at all. The concept of Osana Najimi (your childhood love) is so common in anime and games that i'm surprised more people don't realize it. Remember Envelope? These Kasumi is the protagonist's osana najimi in the story and in the game. Sentimental Graffiti (that's Taeko-chan pictured above, a scene from Sentimental Graffiti 2 for Dreamcast) is all about the Osana Najimi concept - in fact, you have twelve girls from your past you can chase. :) So, while there are little bits and pieces of Love Hina (and a half dozen other anime and games) that we spoof, we do try to keep things a little original.